Retro Re-release Roundup, week of September 26, 2024
Warren Spector's tribute to vintage Disney escapes the Wii.
Much has and will continue to be discussed about Disney Epic Mickey, but I have one point of contention that I've rarely heard from anyone else, and that remains unaddressed for this remake: namely, that Disney Epic Mickey is a mind-boggingly awful title and they should've used this opportunity to change it, audience recognition be damned.
Blast Off
- Platform: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4
- Price: $7.99 / €6.99 / £6.29
- Publisher: Hamster / Namco
What's this? A vertically-scrolling sci-fi shooting game, originally developed by short-lived Namco subsidiary N.H.System and distributed in arcades in 1989, and never reissed until now; while the game's touted as a sequel to the influential multi-directional arcade shooter Bosconian, it shares virtually no mechanical or aesthetic similarities to that game, and is instead a fairly conventional vertical shooter whose primary gimmick, such as it is, allows you to freely cycle between four different shot types.
Why should I care? You have a soft spot for the home-only sequel, PC Engine's Final Blaster, and you want to experience that game's extremely humble beginnings, or you just get a kick out of any game that offers half a dozen ways to glitch it out.
Unrelated but nonetheless worthwhile info: The recent ACA release of Nichibutsu's ninja-themed overhead run-and-gun Ninja Emaki, which somehow launched globally without containing the version of the game named Ninja Emaki, has just been updated to add Ninja Emaki.
JALECOLLE FAMICOM VER.
Bio Warrior DAN: The Increaser War (Bio Senshi DAN: Increaser to no Tatakai)
- Platform: Nintendo Switch, (worldwide)
- Price: $7.99 or equivalent
- Publisher: City Connection
What's this? A stage-based, sci-fi action-sidescroller with exploratory elements, originally developed by Atlus and published by Jaleco for the Famicom in 1987, with a localized NES version titled Bashi Bazook: Morphoid Masher completed but never officially released; in addition to the de riguer Jalecolle feature set (save states, rewind, border options, speedrun mode, art galleries and the "Subtitle Guide" overlays for translated/augmented text), this reissue includes a music visualizer, a collection of scanned development/pitch documents, a stage map visible via the pause function, quick-swapping for weapons, more discrete icons to indicate weapon power-up level and readouts providing the bestiary and characteristics of the monsters that populate a given stage.
Why should I care? DAN sets itself apart from many of the other sorta-mazey sci-fi action games of its day both via its occasional dips into absurd humor (which include the ability to sumo-wrestle a beast for bonuses, or the full-screen graphic of your character wearing a yukata that appears after staying at an inn) and through some forward-thinking mechanics, like bosses whose healts steadily increases while you explore, incentivising the player to find them as quickly as possible, and the enhancements provided here should take what was already a fairly manageable game and sand off the most annoying elements (via the map, mostly). Tsukasa Masuko handled the music, too, so you know it's worth hearing.
Useless fact: This game was developed concurrently with Megami Tensei by many of the same staff, and when Atlus approached Jaleco about publishing both games, Jaleco's president allegedly signed DAN on the spot and didn't even bother looking at Megami Tensei; why, nobody can say, but some have speculated that the president simply didn't see the appeal in games that weren't centered on real-time action gameplay.
OTHER
- Platform: PlayStation 4/5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch, PC via Steam (worldwide)
- Price: $59.99 or equivalent
- Publisher: THQ Nordic / Purple Lamp
What's this? A remake of Junction Point Studios and Disney's 3D platformer-adventure game set in a world of vintage and forgotten Disney characters, originally published for the Nintendo Wii in 2010. This new version has been put together by recent Spongebob Squarepants platformer remake studio Purple Lamp and moves the game to Unreal Engine and offers substantially remodeled and retextured characters and environments, significantly reworked controls for the game's central paint/thinner mechanic and Mickey's basic mobility, a thoroughly reworked camera, faster and more convenient ways to replay or skip the game's 2D sections, a miltitude of quality-of-life tweaks to the UI, map, subtitles and more, as well as a fully-credited gallery of concept art.
Why should I care? The original Epic Mickey delivered on its promise to revitalise and embrace a certain era of neglected Disney characters of lore, but for various reasons related to choice of engine, choice of platform and general genre unfamiliarity, could not satisfactorily execute on the team's goal to provide a broadly compelling 3D adventure game on par with the likes of Super Mario 64, nor their goal to streamline the choices-matter immersive sim stylings of Deus Ex into a simpler and more kinetic format. On paper, this remake seems to address all the big mechanical issues and should allow you to experience all the charm of the game without having to fret about the camera, or the reticule, or accidentally clipping past or into the obstacles the game wants you to think your way around, and my hope is that it hasn't launched in the same buggy state as some of this team's other remakes.
Helpful tip: The physical console versions of this game are focused on current-gen consoles and Switch, but certain European countries are getting a physical PS4 version, should you care to track them down (and can find a retailer that will ship them outside of their country).
- Platform: PlayStation 4/5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch, PC via Steam (worldwide)
- Price: $9.99 or equivalent
- Publisher: Forever Entertainment
What's this? A high-definition remake of Data East's gory monster-mash brawler Night Stalkers, originally developed and distributed in arcades by Data East in 1993 and recently reissued (and soon delisted) via the defunct Johnny Turbo's Arcade line; in addition to fully remade graphics and audio, this version ups the local player count to 4 and adds Liu Feilin from the Fighter's History series as a playable character, offers a custom mode with various modifiers like exploding enemy corpses, lets you switch between the original arcade music and new arranges and more.
Why should I care? You can't take the appropriate amount of offense without caring at least a little bit.
Useless fact: One of the player-character's full names is listed as "Jake Hunter", which just happens to be the localized name of the detective from Data East's classic detective adventure game series Tantei Jingiiji Saburo, albeit one assigned by different creators many years after Data East went bankrupt, and I'm not sure where the creators of this remake took the "Hunter" surname from — as far as I'm aware, it was never used anywhere in or around the original game, but it is listed on certain fan wikis with no source...
Worms Armageddon: Anniversary Edition
- Platform: PlayStation 4/5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch (worldwide)
- Price: $24.99 or equivalent
- Publisher: Team 17 / Digital Eclipse
What's this? A 25th-anniversary console reissue of the third game in Team 17's hit turn-based tactical multiplayer game, originally released for PC in 1999 and subsequently ported to PlayStation, Nintendo 64, Sega Dreamcast and Game Boy Color, and whose Steam version has been sporadically updated and maintained across the years; these Digital Eclipse-produced console versions boast online multiplayer with same-ecosystem crossplay (PS4+5 and Xbox One+S/X), proper controller configs and support for wider resolutions, alongside a gallery of video interviews with key creators, scans of various materials and an emulated version of the Game Boy Color port.
Why should I care? I haven't played a new Worms game in at least a decade and therefore cannot state with 100% certainty that you don't need to bother with any of the games that came after Armageddon, but ya kinda don't have to bother with any of the games after Armageddon — this game represents the critical, commercial, creative and cultural apex of the series and the incremental updates it's received over the years have allowed it to supersede its iterative sequels, without veering off into any of the gimmicky or ill-advised directions which destroyed the momentum of the series two decades ago.
Helpful tip: Following the increasing trend of digital-first, physical-later retailer releases, the physical versions won't be ready until December, and possibly only in Europe at that.
UPDATES AND DOWNLOADABLE CONTENT
Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration - The Wider World of Atari DLC ($7.99 or equivalent, $13.99 bundled with the upcoming DLC #2)
Atari and Digital Eclipse's celebrated Atari 50 anthology has just received the first of two paid updates, ahead of a planned expanded physical reissue at the end of the year, which adds 19 new games spanning 1977 to 1987, as well as additional documentary/timeline content and additions/tweaks to the collection's original games, including a level editor for Neo Breakout; click here for the full list of additional games. (The second DLC and the expanded physical versions should be out in November.)
